Analyze states of program stages

After your program is published (executing), you can monitor it using the Analyze tab. One of the views shown on the Analyze tab is the Snapshot view.

The Snapshot view shows the state of each stage within a selected timeframe. This view overlays statistics on your diagram. You can update the date range reported in the overlay by adjusting the settings at the top of the Analyze tab. You can also set or change the "winning" path from a performance switch.

Working with the Snapshot view

To open the Snapshot view, click Snapshot in the Analyze tab of the Program Designer.

To select the date range:

  1. Select an option from the drop-down list at the top right of the page.
  2. Enter the time period or select a date range.
  3. Click Refresh.

Understanding the Snapshot view

The yellow boxes in the overlay tables indicate the average time expired between entering a given stage and exiting that stage (processing time).

For data switches, the time might vary based on the complexity of a query or the number of options defined in the switch—more options means more queries.

For the Send email campaign activity, the time might vary based on the complexity of the personalization.

Data descriptions

The following data is displayed for all stages:

  • Current – The number of program entries presently at the stage or in the program.
  • Passed through – The number of program entries that have successfully passed through the stage or program.
  • Failures – The number of program entries that have caused failures in the stage or program. The failure applies only to the specific stage, and the program will proceed through the rest of the stages.
  • Unsubscribed and Undeliverable – The number of program entries that have unsubscribed or were undeliverable in the program.
  • Manually Terminated – The number of program entries cleared from the program by the Terminate All command.

The following data is displayed only for Send email campaign stages that are identified in automatic-mode performance switches.

  • Open rate – The percentage of program entries that opened the delivered email campaign message: 100 × opens / (sent – bounced).
  • Click-through rate – The percentage of program entries that clicked a link in the delivered email campaign message: 100 × clickthroughs / (sent – bounced).
  • Conversion rate – The percentage of program entries that converted on a link in the delivered email campaign message: 100 × conversions / (sent – bounced).
  • Unsubscribe rate – The percentage of program entries that unsubscribed through the delivered email campaign message: 100 × unsubscribes / (sent – bounced).

Resolving blocked Send campaign stages

If a Send campaign stage becomes blocked, you can unblock it by addressing blocking issues.

Depending on the type of issue, you can retry sending the campaign, skip the blocked stage, or move the enactments at the blocked stage out of the program.

To unblock the stage:

  1. On the Analyze tab, click Unblocked.

    The Blocked program dialog opens. The dialog shows the available resolution options.

  2. Select one of the available options:
    • Retry
      Available only if the issue is with a campaign. Fix the issue in the Campaign Designer, then use this option to re-try to send the campaign to all enactments which were blocked at the stage. Note that this option is not available in some cases, such as a system issue.
    • Skip
      Use this option to skip the blocked stage and move the enactments to the next stage.
    • Exit
      Use this option to move the enactments at the blocked stage out of the program.

    Note: Programs use existing objects, such as campaigns, lists, and filters. Programs do not control those objects. We recommend that you keep the campaigns, lists, and filters used by a program—as well as the program file itself—in one folder. This helps prevent accidental deletion of a critical program element.

Working with performance switches

When the timer that precedes a performance switch expires, Program sends an email message to the addresses specified in the switch definition. If the performance switch is in Manual mode, the message states that it's time to analyze the performance of the various paths participating in the test and identify the winner, so the remainder of the audience can be sent down that path. If the performance switch is in Automatic mode, the message reports which campaign has been identified as the winner, based on the criteria selected in the switch definition.

In the Snapshot view, the overlay for each email campaign selected in an Automatic-mode performance switch includes four performance metrics: open rate, click-through rate, conversion rate, and unsubscribe rate. These metrics are not available for SMS campaigns. Note that performance is measured for only one of the campaigns in each participating path, regardless of how many are in the path. These performance metrics normally reflect the period from the time the program was first published until the time a winning path was selected; after that time, they are no longer updated. The definition of each performance switch includes an option to start over (that is, to clear any existing performance data and start gathering data again) for that performance switch when the program is published. Note that these performance metrics reflect the four-hour reporting delay; that is, the reported rates are approximately four hours old.

For campaigns selected in a Manual mode performance switch, the performance metrics are not available; instead, you examine the Interactive Dashboard for each campaign in the participating paths and determine the most successful path. Then, in the Snapshot view, double-click the performance switch and follow the instructions for selecting the winning campaign.

After a path has been selected, whether automatically or manually, the corresponding path is highlighted. You can double-click the performance switch and select a different campaign. You might do that if, for example, based on the analysis of campaign performance, you decide to override or change the existing selection.

Best practices

If you want to associate several campaigns used by a single program, we recommend that you define a marketing strategy or marketing program properties for each program through your account settings and associate the marketing strategy or marketing program characterization with each of the campaigns in the program. Insight then allows you to filter reports down to specific campaigns that are part of one program using these two properties as filtering criteria. You can quickly create and save a report that maps only to a specific program’s interactions.

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